The other day I was watching something on the History Channel about the characters of some of Jesus’ disciples. The episode I watched was on Peter. Totally fascinating as I had never really given Peter much thought before. The only thing I knew is that Peter was weak, he ran away from persecution (but seeing Jesus with nails in hands, sword in side, my sister who no go run?!). Peter lacked courage and loyalty; one minute proclaiming Jesus as king and the next abandoning Him. *Cranks volume up on Chris Brown* Peter I always thought, was vaguely irritating. I’m like, “Bruh let your yes be your yes, man!” Nothing is as annoying as a weak man. Peter’d be the first to run his mouth…yet also the first to cower away when the real trouble starts. He clearly hadn’t heard the hood motto, “Don’t Start Nuthin’, Won’t be Nuthin’” Watching this show I really started to think on Peter, Jesus and God’s love.

Peter is characterized by cowardice and hot headedness…yet, he is one of the first to leave his work and follow Jesus. There’s something at the base of that weak character; strength and vision. Jesus wasn’t a big deal by then, no miracles had been performed; He was still some random carpenter’s child with weird ideas about growing kingdoms inside hearts and what not. But Peter connected to something and made a brave decision to follow Jesus. This is the same Peter that falls away as soon as things get hard for Jesus.

My mum and I have been talking a bit about Rahab, one of the most famous prostitutes in the history of Christendom, you can find her story in Joshua 2. Rahab was notorious in her city, Jericho. No, she was not a famous politician or talented musician, Rahab was known for her job; she was a prostitute. She was a young woman more famous for what she DID than for who she WAS; renown for her failures, known BY her weaknesses. When you think about it, it’s sort of horrifying. Imagine if everyone knew your deepest secret, one that you were forced to continue to practice despite your guilt and shame, because you didn’t have any other options. *Shudders* It’s evident that at the base, Rahab was a woman with wisdom; she was the first one to recognize that her city was going to be destroyed and acted accordingly, saving herself and her family. She had a big heart; she could have chosen to save herself but chose to save her entire family as well, even though we don’t know if they had abandoned and rejected her or were mean to her, because of her profession. And perhaps more importantly to God, she was a woman whose heart thirsted for more. She’d only heard about God but it’s clear she really wanted to be a part of God’s people. And God answered her silent cry for salvation. In the end Rahab was, strangely, one of only four women recognised in the genealogy of Jesus…quite a feat in a male-dominated society. Rahab a prostitute- a profession that was even more reviled in that time-became the great grandmother of King David. Rahab-THE-Prostitute became the great-great grandmother of the wisest man that has ever lived, King Solomon.

Anyone. Can. Be. Used. By. God. To. Do. Epic. Things…even YOU.

I was telling Bolu a story the other day and I said, “Oh that’s my friend who I worked at the HIV hospital with!”. And he was like, “You’re always involved in something, how do you find these things??”. I’m open. That’s the simple truth. I will take up almost any opportunity to volunteer, and there are so many around us. Be open. Keep an eye out and contribute to something bigger than yourself this weekend. I challenge you. *Throws down gauntlet*.

Back to our regular scheduled programming:

So as I was saying, God will go over and above your sin, your shame, your pain, your defeat, to bring you back to Him. He loves you THAT much. Nothing can separate us from God’s love. All God is looking for is for people who are obedient. Not qualified, not talented, not religious, just obedient.

“I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
-Romans 8:31-39

The way God works seems to be upside down; He never seems to use the most qualified or talented, from what I understand, it seems as though God ALWAYS just uses the obedient. Think about this excerpt I got from my daily devotional Girlfriends in God (www.girlfriendsingod.com):

“Abraham was old, Jacob was insecure, Leah was unattractive, Joseph was abused, Moses stuttered, Gideon was poor, Samson was codependent, Rahab was immoral, David had an affair and all kinds of family problems, Elijah was suicidal, Jeremiah was depressed, Jonah was reluctant, Naomi was a widow, John the Baptist was eccentric to say the least, Peter was impulsive and hot-tempered, Martha worried a lot, the Samaritan woman had several failed marriages, Zachaeus was unpopular, Thomas had doubts, Paul had poor health, Timothy was timid and Balam’s donkey was…well, a donkey. That’s quite a group of misfits, but God used each of them in his service.”

See God understands weaknesses. He understands our humanity, our lack of consistency, our frailty, our inability, our tendency to do things contrary to what our heads tell us. In that day, there must have been diligent people who were pure and pious, I mean God found Mary; a young, pure, perfect little girl with a heart for GOD. Why didn’t God pick 12 perfect pastors to follow His son as disciples? Jesus’ disciples are a motley crew representing many more weaknesses than the 7 deadly sins cover. The sons of Zebedee were given to violence, Judas was full of greed (strange how Jesus knew his failings yet let Judas be their accountant. See John 13:29), Peter was clearly a character, Nathaniel was a cynic…

Yet Jesus saw through all their faults and they all had a part to play in the story of salvation. Peter is a deeply flawed man…Rahab is a deeply flawed woman. Both chosen precisely because of the weaknesses in their characters; their flaws reflect ours and mirror our own imperfections. More than that, they show us that God will use us regardless. Even more than that, they show that God wants to use us BECAUSE of our flaws and painful experiences. We always have a choice and we are always God’s first choice, we can decide to let our weaknesses and things that have happened to us limit us, or we can use them to inspire others and grow God’s kingdom.

Interestingly, Jesus changes Simeon’s name to this Peter. Jesus gives Peter a name that translates to ‘The Rock’; implying stability, strength and fortitude…which he is clearly not at all! This is the same for us. I imagine that what God calls us, is totally different from what we call ourselves and what the world calls us. Why? Because He sees us for who we could be, who we were created to be, yet still loves us for who we actually are. He doesn’t see all our limitations and shortcomings, He sees you as He made you to be; perfect. And that’s why David with all his many indiscretions, could proudly brag “I am the apple of God’s eye’. He knew what many of us do not:

I. Am. Precious. To. God.

Think about it.

This sort of love is amazing…but more than that, that sort of love is encouraging.

“When they saw the courage of Peter and John, and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus,” (Acts 4:13).

“Ah, they had been with Jesus. That explained everything”